Cisco: Live with Internet Just as Live with Sunshine

Internet access is as important as the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink, according to a new survey of college students and young adults commissioned by Cisco. Here’s what else they said.

Priorities and the way technology has certainly changed, even in the last several years. The Internet is a fundamental to their survival as the air they breathe, the food they eat, the water in their beer, and the shelter for their parties to a third of people (college students and young employees) with Internet access, according to an international poll by Cisco.

Cisco surveyed 2,853 people split roughly equally between college students and recently employed college graduates ages 21 to 29 in 14 countries. The groups were also evenly split between men and women.

Key Findings

Internet as One of Life’s Fundamental Resources

Air, Water, Internet: One of every three college students and employees surveyed globally (33%) believes the Internet is a fundamental resource for the human race — as important as air, water, food and shelter. About half (49% of college students and 47% of employees) believe it is “pretty close” to that level of importance. Combined, four of every five college students and young employees believe the Internet is vitally important as part of their daily life’s sustenance.

Life’s Daily Sustenance: More than half of the respondents (55% of college students and 62% of employees) said they could not live without the Internet and cite it as an “integral part of their lives.”

The New Way to Get Around: If forced to make a choice between one or the other, the majority of college students globally — about two of three (64%) — would choose an Internet connection instead of a car.

The New Social Life: Internet over Love and Friendship?

First Love: Two of five college students surveyed globally (40%) said the Internet is more important to them than dating, going out with friends, or listening to music.

Social Life 2.0: Whereas previous generations preferred socializing in person, the next generation is indicating a shift toward online interaction. More than one in four college students globally (27%) said staying updated on Facebook was more important than partying, dating, listening to music, or hanging out with friends.

Influence of Social Media — And Distractions in Daily Life

Facebook Interaction: About nine of 10 (91%) college students and employees (88%) globally said they have a Facebook account — of those, 81 percent of college students and 73% of employees check their Facebook page at least once a day. One of those three (33%) said they check at least five times a day.

Online Interruption or Disruption? College students reported constant online interruptions while doing projects or homework, such as instant messaging, social media updates and phone calls. In a given hour, more than four out of five (84%) college students said they are interrupted at least once. About one in five students (19%) said they are interrupted six times or more — an average of at least once every 10 minutes. One of 10 (12%) said they lose count of how many times they are interrupted while they are trying to focus on a project.

Work Is Life: In a sign that the boundary between work and personal life is becoming thinner, seven of 10 employees “friended” their managers and/or co-workers on Facebook, indicating the dissolution of boundaries separating work and private life. Culturally, the United States featured lower percentages of employees friending managers and co-workers — only about one in four (23%) — although two of five friended their co-workers (40%).

The Work Grapevine: Of employees who use Twitter, more than two of every three (68%) follow the Twitter activity of either their manager or colleagues; 42% follow both, while one-third (32%) prefer to keep their personal lives private.

At one time Cisco almost stands for network because of its indispensible role in internet. After development in the past several decades, internet is vital to most of us. And Cisco has to share its markets with others like Juniper, Huawei. Although Cisco will face more and more challenges, its position in networking period cannot be replaced by others. What will the internet look like in the future? Everyone is waiting for that.

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